Elon Musk’s Starlink Terminals Are Reaching the Wrong Hands
WHAT'S THE ISSUE HERE? Star Link provides access without borders to equalize the playing field at the same time some countries and competitors want to restrict that almost universal access
Star Link has now become the most important private-sector contractor to the US government’s space program and a dominant force in national security...
SpaceX provided the technology to Kyiv in the early days of Russia’s invasion, and Starlink has since become crucial to the Ukrainian communications infrastructure. The US Department of Defense later struck a deal with Starlink to supply Ukraine with equipment, the terms of which were not made public.
Then in February of this year, Ukraine said that Russia was deploying Starlink in its own war efforts, while unverified posts on X, Musk’s social network, appeared to show Russian soldiers unpacking kits.
Two House Democrats wrote a letter to SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell pressing her on Ukraine’s claims. “To the best of our knowledge, no Starlinks have been sold directly or indirectly to Russia,” Musk wrote on X.
It’s the uncertainty about where the satellite dishes are landing that has security officials around the world concerned. Starlink kits are being sold for use in Venezuela, where individuals and entities have been subject to US sanctions for almost a decade, most recently under President Nicolas Maduro’s authoritarian rule. . .
SpaceX should be able to prevent Russian use of Starlink in occupied Ukraine, since “basically every single transmitter can be identified,” said Candace Johnson, director at NorthStar Earth & Space Inc., a Montreal company that in January successfully launched four satellites — on a rocket from SpaceX competitor Rocket Lab USA Inc. — to identify and track objects in space. “There needs to be more accountability: to your country, to your company, to your shareholders, to your stakeholders,” said Johnson, who is also a partner with Seraphim Capital, a venture-capital firm that invests in space startups. In North Africa, Starlink’s use in Sudan shows how terminals arrive in a country subject to international sanctions. There has been no internet in Sudan since early February. Both the Sudanese Armed Forces and Rapid Support Forces have blamed each other for cutting the service while the CEO of Zain Sudan, a mobile operator, said his company’s engineers had been prevented from reaching parts of the country to reconnect the network due to insecurity and a lack of fuel.
Mar 25, 2024
Black market boom: Elon Musk’s Starlink is getting into the wrong hands
by Editor BizNewsBy Bruce Einhorn, Loni Prinsloo, Marissa Newman and Simon Marks
SpaceX’s Starlink promises high-speed internet worldwide but faces a growing black market, especially in conflict zones and repressive regimes where its use is unauthorized. Despite SpaceX’s efforts to control illegal activations, the allure of reliable connectivity leads to widespread smuggling and trading of Starlink kits.
This raises significant concerns about accountability, national security, and geopolitical implications. As the global demand for Starlink surges, regulatory challenges and ethical dilemmas underscore the complexities of providing satellite-based internet services in politically sensitive environments.
SpaceX’s Starlink touts its high-speed internet as “available almost anywhere on Earth.” In the real world, its reach extends to countries where Elon Musk’s satellite-enabled service has no agreement to operate, including territories ruled by repressive regimes. A Bloomberg News investigation identified wide-spanning examples of Starlink kits being traded and activated illegally. How they are smuggled and the sheer availability of Starlink on the black market suggests that its misuse is a systemic global problem, raising questions about the company’s control of a system with clear national security dimensions. In Yemen, which is in the throes of a decade-long civil war, a government official conceded that Starlink is in widespread use. Many people are prepared to defy competing warring factions, including Houthi rebels, to secure terminals for business and personal communications, and evade the slow, often censored internet service that’s currently available. Or take Sudan, where a year-long civil war has led to accusations of genocide, crimes against humanity and millions of people fleeing their homes. With the regular internet down for months, soldiers of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces are among those using the system for their logistics, according to Western diplomats.
Starlink’s ease of use is a big selling point. Photographer: Cate Dingley/Bloomberg
“It is deeply concerning because it’s unregulated and headed by a private company,”Emma Shortis, a senior researcher in international and security affairs at the Australia Institute, an independent think tank in Canberra, said of the Starlink system.“There’s no accountability on who has access to it and how it’s being used.”
Fresh accusations from Ukraine that Russian forces are using satellite internet terminals made by Elon Musk's Starlink service has again thrusted the billionaire into the center of the war.
Starlink terminals are also popping up in Iran, Sudan, and Yemen.
Musk said he isn't "knowingly" providing these terminals to any of these countries, but experts say a network of middlemen are moving in to buy and sell these kits in unsanctioned areas around the world.
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